How to switch off, when you're working from home.

Working from home is a commuters dream. No long train trips in overcrowded, overheated trains. No sick, fellow commuters sneezing in your general vicinity sharing their colds and flu germs. A 3 second commute and the ability to work in your pajamas's, what's not to love?

When I was a younger, long before the internet made working from home a reality, the dream to be able to stay home and do what really needed to be done without the day-to-day distractions of a busy, loud office was just that; a dream.

Today, working from home is easier than it ever has been. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this blog post about switching off while I'm working from home, sitting in the autumn sunshine next to my swimming pool. Back before I was able to make use of working from home, I couldn't figure out how anyone got another done. Over the years I’ve come to learn; it’s not about how you get things done, but how you switch off.

The internet, Skype, and mobile phones all ensure the mythical “virtual office”, is less an idea of  sci-fi writers and more a realistic and probably efficient direction for the future. The virtual office is beginning to take root as an idea and a reality, as businesses cross-borders and staff could be on any continent in the world.

I'm currently talking to a colleague on Skype in India, and another in the Philippines, all while trying to write a blog and chatting to the team in Sydney, also on Skype, while preparing for a teleconference with the Marketing team in about half an hour.

Virtual business reality is here, and it's up to business owners to embrace the new technologies available to ensure their staff are working at maximum value and return on investment.

But the danger of working from home is there's no one around – unless you count the cats – to remind you to take a break. That may not seem like a problem, but working from home can mean long days, parked in front of the computer. Longer than you would do if you were commuting to and from work. At least commuting means you have to finish at a certain time. Working from home, it's very easy to fall into the habit of starting earlier and finishing later.

So here are some strategies to use, the next time you find yourself working from home to ensure you take adequate breaks:

Move around:

Whenever I work from home I find myself in my desk chair – or as the case currently, a deck chair – from before 7am. The tendency to do “just one more thing” before you go to make your coffee is easy and before you know it, another hour has passed. Work gives you breaks for a reason. Without them, your energy lags, your focus wanders and the quality of your work output diminishes. While it's easy to understand the importance of doing enough work to justify your day at home, it's also important to remember work, whether in the office or out of it, is about quality not quantity. Make yourself get up and walk around, make a coffee, go for a walk. Sitting and working for 12 hours straight isn't going to be an indication of high-quality work output.

Leave your email off:

I had an issue this morning where I couldn't get into my work email account. It was one of those “I've just changed my password, and now I can't remember it” errors. Instead of worrying at it, I left it alone until later in the day. While there were a stack of emails waiting for me when I finally remembered my password, I was surprised at the amount of work I'd done in the meantime. Writing 5 content marketing pieces, a LinkedIn Pulse post and a blog post for the company blog is no mean feat for a day’s worth of work, but today I did it all by 1:30pm. When you're working from home, the goal is to get those tasks done that ordinarily you'd have difficulty with in a crowded office. Focus on why you're home working and you'll be surprised at the results. The sooner you get the most pressing things under control, the less likely you are to still be working at 8pm.

Remember Lunch:

Okay, this is a bad one for me personally. I tend to forget about eating when I'm home, let alone when I'm working from home, but take your scheduled lunch break. There's no reason to think you can't walk away from the computer when you're working from home.

If everyone else gets a lunch break, so do you. Go sit in the garden, have a sandwich and a coffee and just relax. Turn your brain off for your allocated time. The emails and Skype messages will still be there when you've finished recharging your batteries.

At the end of the day, we all have to figure out what works best for us when we are working from home but it is important to remember that working from home is not slavery. You are still permitted to take a break, you are still permitted to do all the things you would normally do if you were working in the office.

These days I don't get to work from home very office but when I do I make the most of the 3 second commute to my desk and the ability to work in my PJ's. 

Mike Cullen has recently returned to Akolade after a period as the conference producer for one of Australia's leading economic think tanks. Mike began working in the conference industry in 2007 after looking for a career change from the high pressured world of inbound customer service.

Mike has worked for some of the most well-known conference and media companies in the B2B space and in his spare time is working on his first novel in a planned Epic Fantasy trilogy. Mike’s first published work will be the short story Seeds of Eden, in the Sproutlings Anthology scheduled for release in March 2016.

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Always sick? You might need a tattoo

Did you know 14.5% of Australia’s population are healthier than the rest of us? It’s not because of their diet, exercise routine or genetics.

We’re told to cover them up for job interviews but the inked among us are generally healthier with stronger immune systems. According to new research from the University of Alabama, there is a link between having multiple tattoos and having a stronger immune system.

On the flip side, for a short time after receiving a tattoo, you can lower your resistance to infections and common colds.

Associate Professor Anthropology, Dr Christopher Lynn from the University of Alabama, compared receiving a tattoo to working out.

“After the stress response, your body returns to an equilibrium,” Lynn explained in UA News. “However, if you continue to stress your body over and over again, instead of returning to the same set point, it adjusts its internal set points and moves higher.”

To prove this, Dr Lynn took to a local tattoo business and asked volunteers how many tattoos they had received, how long the procedures had taken and collected a saliva sample before and after the tattoo.

He found that immunoglobulin A levels dropped considerably in those receiving their first tattoo. (In case you didn’t major in anthropology, this is an antibody which lines parts of our respiratory and gastrointestinal systems). This decrease was less in those who had received multiple tattoos.

The body sends immunological agents to the freshly tattooed area, preparing for possible infection. Multiple tattoo sessions constantly raises the threshold to trigger an immunological response. Like working out at the gym, it will take more weight each time to make those muscles sore.

“Competition and tattooing are ways to demonstrate fitness, and tattoos may amplify the fitness signal,” Lynn says.

If you aren’t partial to the idea of going under the needle, there are other ways you can boost your immune system:

Exercise  regularly

Take the stairs. Walk to work or get off a station earlier. Start a lunchtime soccer game with your work colleagues.

Eat plenty of fruit and veg

“Like any fighting force, the immune system army marches on its stomach,” says Harvard Medical School. If you’re not a fan of fruit, consider a daily multivitamin or supplement to bring your immune system up to scratch.

Get enough sleep

You don’t work well without enough sleep and neither does your immune system. Aim for 8 hours a night- that doesn’t include your morning nap on the train.

Drink in moderation

This means no bingeing, no matter how rough your day was.

If you’re in the healthcare industry, you’ll be interested in knowing that Akolade is holding its Sustaining National Standards Excellence in Sydney from August 30-September 1. With Version 2 of the NSQHS standards being introduced in early 2017, the conference provides attendees with a timely opportunity to examine strategies for ensuring ongoing compliance.

Sustaining National Standards Excellence gives attendees the opportunity to hear from industry leaders and to begin preparations for the implementation of Version 2 while maintaining continuous improvements in other areas- strangely, this does not include tattooing.

Claire Dowler is a Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies majoring in International Communication. Claire thought it sounded more impressive.

A ballroom-dancer who collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might say Claire has eclectic interests.

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5 ways to leverage social media marketing in your VET organisation

Social media marketing is all the rage at the moment. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s a lot cheaper than traditional forms of marketing. It’s easier to do yourself. It has much shorter lead times and has a huge following.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics  found that approximately 63% of all Australian’s use Facebook, whilst a whopping 936 million people use Facebook on a daily basis, around the world.  

Given the heightened competition of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector at current, marketing efforts are more crucial than ever before. Why not leverage social media marketing in your VET organisation?

Social media and social media marketing is no longer a tool for VET organisations to optimise but frankly a necessity. Social media marketing has the ability to attract and retain students, grow your organisation, diversify your revenue streams and strengthen your brand image. Just to name a few benefits.  

Five easy steps to help you leverage social media marketing, into your VET organisation:

Entertain your audience  

Seduce your audience so that they are left wanting more. Gone are the days of blatant marketing efforts, in a world where the average person is exposed to up to 20,000 marketing messages per day. Of all these messages we’re exposed to, funnily enough only 0.03% of ads actually make an impression on us.

Keep it short and sweet

We live in a time-poor society, don’t babble on. Research shows that most people who use the Internet don’t read more than 60% of a content piece. Include a link. If people are interested they will read on.   

Use brand repetition  

Whilst it is important not to blatantly market your organisation, you do need to reinforce your brand. You want your target audience to remember your name and logo, in a highly cluttered marketplace.    

 Have a clear USP

A USP or unique selling proposition is a short sentence summarising exactly what you are trying to say. Have one clear message that differentiates you from your competitors. Here’s a tip, make it quirky. You can use trending topics (embrace the #hashtag for God’s sake) and add your own twist.  

Research, research, research

Here’s an obvious one, research your target market! Who are you trying to target?

Choose the right social media platform for your message and audience to ensure quality. There’s no point creating a killer ad if it’s appearing in the wrong person’s News Feed. Targeting tradies? LinkedIn might not be your best solution…   

To learn more on social media marketing and ways to grow your VET organisation, why not attend Akolade’s upcoming conference Innovative Business Models for VET Organisations? The conference will be held in Sydney, from the 27^th – 29^th July, 2016.  

For more information on the conference, please contact Akolade on (02) 9247 6000 or visit our website.  

Ashley has lived on Manly beachfront her entire life – she worships the sun and chases it year round. Having recently finished her Bachelor of Business in Portugal’s gorgeous capital, Lisbon, she thought that producing conferences at Akolade would be a great new experience.  Ashley loves her new dinner-time conversation, enlightening people on her research topics! 

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Understanding the economic impact of injuries in the workplace

It is estimated workplace injuries negatively impact the Australian economy to the tune of over $60 billion per year, or over 4 per cent of the nation’s GDP.

Safe Work Australia has provided a snap shot of the Australian workshops compensation landscape in the 2012-13 Australian Workers’ Compensation Statistics report.

According to the report, a staggering 1.5 million collective weeks of work were lost in that period, undoubtedly having a significant impact on productivity across Australia, as well as Gross Domestic Profits.

Experts across the country agree, when it comes to managing workplace injuries the sooner you act the sooner your employee can return to work. 

With an estimate cost of $1000 per absent worker it makes sense both from an economic and organisational perspective that a company must be constantly reviewing their policies and procedures to ensure a smooth transition back into the workplace for their injured workers.

In an exclusive interview with Belinda Ayres, Manager People and Culture from the City of Kingston, we asked for her insights on her company’s workplace safety program.  

What advice would you give yourself if you could start your workplace safety program again?  

The advice I would give myself if I were looking to start a workplace safety program is to allow additional time to engage stakeholders in the change management process.  The differing levels of knowledge and understanding of both strategic and operational risks which occurs across an organisation with key stakeholders cannot be underestimated in terms of engagement and understanding the rationale for a workplace safety program.

Do you have 3 tips for those looking to reduce claims? 

• Understand your strategic and operational organisational risks
• Establish a panel of preferred allied health professionals who understand your business and the philosophy of your injury management and rehabilitation process
• Seek to adopt a ‘preventative’ approach to injury management and rehabilitation is key

What is your biggest priority for the next 12 months?

Evidenced based decision making based on the future demography of Council and planning to address these challenges.


Akolade has just released their upcoming Injury Prevention Conference that will be held in Sydney this June. This conference offers a holistic approach to reducing workplace injuries and insurance costs. For more information, please click here.

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable cat and dog. 

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How exercise makes you smarter and improves your work performance

Understanding all the benefits of exercise is key to sustaining a healthy lifestyle. We should not dwell on only the health and fitness benefits, but also recognise the benefits in the way it effects our work performance.

Scientists and studies continue to prove exercise is valuable for our memory, energy levels, mood, alertness, and the way we think – indicating that our mental firepower is directly linked to our physical regimen.

Harvard Business Review suggests the following cognitive benefits as a result of incorporating regular exercise into your routine:

• Improved concentration
• Sharper memory
• Faster learning
• Prolonged mental stamina
• Enhanced creativity
• Lower stress

A Leeds Metropolitan University study examined the influence of daytime exercise among office workers with access to a company gym.

“Here’s what they found: On days when employees visited the gym, their experience at work changed. They reported managing their time more effectively, being more productive, and having smoother interactions with their colleagues. Just as important:

They went home feeling more satisfied at the end of the day.”

Another article from Forbes states 6 ways exercise makes you smarter:

• Increases energy
• Sharpens focus
• Enhances mood
• Helps impulse control
• Improves memory
• Increases productivity

Why wouldn’t you want to improve these?

All it takes is a short 30 minutes of exercise up to five times a week – sounds like a lot? Try and find your niche activity which you enjoy. Get together a few colleagues to take a brisk walk during lunch, find a fun club or sport, or sign up for a race or competition.

Find an exercise that you can enjoy and stick to it!

After finishing University with a degree in Business Marketing, I decided to make a big jump across seas for the first time and move from the east coast of America to Sydney, Australia. I landed my first job in a sales position in the event industry and soon thereafter moved into a marketing assistant role – following I had the pleasure of interviewing with Akolade which got me to where I am today.

Akolade is a fun, innovative company that brings together people from different walks of life to implement change. As the Marketing Manager, I have the pleasure of wearing many hats which motivates me to succeed, reach people in an array of avenues, grow our events to their full potential, and raise our story. As for me, I am a kind dedicated woman who loves to work hard, exercise, cook, be social and have some fun.

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What happens to your social media accounts after you die?

We live in a new age – the digital age. Everything that happens now is exciting and instead of just enjoying the moment we have to share it online with friends, family and “friends” who we’ve never met and probably never will. So what happens when a big life event occurs when you just can’t post like when your battery dies or when you die?

A while ago Facebook has introduced a brand feature where it allows you to select a legacy account manager who can manage your account after you’re gone. While the assigned person may not read your private messages, they are able to upload photos, add or delete posts and monitor your account. This is actually the first time you’ll be able to post old posts and photos in the hands of someone else and have them control it for you when you pass away.In addition, if a person hasn’t been nominated on the site but has been asked to do the same job then the site will respect the wishes of the deceased.

Jumping back to the digital age I brought up earlier in this post via Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Youtube etc. are more than just fun for a lot of people. They are monetising businesses. And in those situations what happens to the account after death is a real serious question.

Let’s say for one second that you’re favourite youtuber should pass away and their channel was signed to a multichannel network, who owns the content post mortem? Is it owned by the network, the family or does it just get deleted?

Let’s consider another example that Twits, emails and Facebook posts are like boxes in a storage unit. If you stop paying for a storage unit, it gets sold to the highest bidder. If we treat your data this way then your email provider could decide to delete your account or even sell your email address once it’s no longer in their best financial interest. This doesn’t sit right but that’s what email companies do.

Personally this is how I’ve lost an account. Gmail’s terms and conditions state that if your email account is inactive for 9 months then they have a right to delete it. One can argue that our emails, Facebook and twitter are not boxes in a storage unit; they are thoughts, images and conversations that are part of our intimate selves.

While we are using digital platforms, yes, we are agreeing to the terms and conditions that rule these digital footprints in exchange for the services the platforms provide.

What do you think should be done about social media accounts after death? Comment down below your thoughts.

The best part of my job as a Conference Production Manager is to create and manage my own conferences from concept to delivery, identify future conference topics as well as giving me a chance to expand my business card collection. Having a bit of a sweet tooth, you will always find me having lollies on my desk or you will catch me browsing on fashion sites during lunch breaks.

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How to stay security savvy in a digital domain

“Digitisation is here to stay,” said Ian Narev, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Bank, in Financial Observer. “We must embrace it and get to the forefront of it.”

Compulsory digitisation is finally upon us, prompted by the National Archives’ Digital Continuity 2020 Policy. Whilst most have begun scanning their boxed paper files (which span for kilometres when sat side by side), there remain unanswered questions surrounding data security.

Though the easiest go-to policy seems to be ‘if we don’t think about it, it won’t know we’re here’, the more practical approach is to make defensive manoeuvres before the security breach, rather than desperately seeking to repair corruption and leaked information after the fact.

Security risks and incident are on the rise: detected incidents have increased globally by 38.5%, according to Digital Pulse. This number becomes a whopping 109% rise in Australia.  Last year saw two of Australia’s major retailers, Kmart and David Jones, fall victim to security breaches.

Whilst government agency breaches pale in comparison to those of the private sector, government information has been compromised several times over the last few years.

Ben Dornier, Director of Corporate and Community Services at City of Palmerston, believes there is no greater security risk in the Cloud than in internal systems. “You have Microsoft, a billion dollar corporation, or your IT Specialist Bob, who is on an $80k annual salary. Who do you think is more likely to have a motive to access your information?”

So perhaps it is not necessarily a greater risk that digitisation or the Cloud pose, but a different risk. There are no ‘digital demons’, though heavily traditional paper-based record keepers may tell you otherwise. There are three simple, practical steps you can take to ensure that your business is digitally secure:

1.       Risk assessments

Conduct cyber-security risk assessments on a regular basis. They allow you to identify gaps in your organisation’s risk areas and act to address them. This means you’re investing your time and resources into the areas that matter most.

2.       Response plans

Have data breach and response plans in place- just in case. These will set out procedures and clear lines of authority for staff in the event of a data breach.

3.       Staff training

Make sure your staff are cyber-safety conscious by ensuring that they are training across all areas of your organisation. This is also an opportunity to build a culture which fosters cyber-security. Cyber-safe practices should be the norm in your organisation; train your staff with this in mind.

The government is leading the way in data protection, recently announcing that they will entrust that duty to citizens themselves. According to Financial Review, Services and Innovation Strategic Policy Executive Director, Dawn Routledge, announced a new innovation at the recent Navigating Privacy and Security Summit.

Future generations may never pull out their ID to purchase alcohol- digital licenses are on the horizon.

"This is moving from plastic cards in your wallet to licences that are truly digital," Routledge said.

Digital licenses could be in our possession as early as this year. We will first see such licences as the Responsible Service of Alcohol available digitally around midyear, “and then moving onto more complex licences in the next couple of years, such as driver's licences."

Thus, whilst digitisation brings with it a myriad of fresh risks and security concerns, it also begins a new age of possibilities. The lines of code behind the screen are not the bars of your gaol cell, but each represents a fresh prospect. How we use them, though, is still being explored.

To learn more, make sure you’re in Sydney for Akolade’s 5th Annual Australian Fraud Summit, to be held on 24-26th May 2016. You can view the program here.

Claire Dowler is a Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies majoring in International Communication. Claire thought it sounded more impressive.

A ballroom-dancer who collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might say Claire has eclectic interests.

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3 simple ways to embed Antimicrobial Stewardship into your Residential Aged Care Facility

Did you know that Australia has one of the highest rates of antibiotic use in the OECD region? With the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this simply isn’t acceptable. 

Due to the high use of antibiotics across Australia’s aged care setting, residential aged care facilities (RACs) have a great opportunity to reduce Australia’s unnecessary use of antibiotics. Whilst there is potential for RACFs to make a difference, it must first start with embedding an effective antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) culture within the organisation.  

When I was in high-school I did some volunteer work in a nursing home, one of the ladies who I used to visit actually told me that she had contracted a Staph infection from her time in hospital. She was in a RAC and still had the infection 6 months on and no one could do much about it, seeing as though there weren’t any available antibiotics to cure it. She was in so much pain and there was nothing anybody could do to help her. 

My visit to the nursing home was nearly 7 years ago and awareness of both AMR and AMS have progressed a long way since then. However there is still not much work being done to combat AMR in aged care facilities. Follow these three easy steps to embed AMS into your aged care facility:

1.       Educate your staff

• Educating your staff creates awareness and awareness leads to change. If your team knows how they can reduce AMR, they are more likely to make a difference.
• Break down the concept of antimicrobial stewardship for staff, defining what it really is.
• Whilst senior practitioners have the knowledge and confidence to make decisions, they are generally more resistant to change.
• Junior practitioners are typically more open and willing to adapt. However they need a confidence boost to make appropriate decisions.   

2.       Utilise available resources

• There is a lot of work currently being done on AMS. Use free resources online (ACSQHC) to see what is being done in the space. Keep an eye on AMS courses for further training.
• Look at what other healthcare organisations are doing. National guidelines and clinical care standards are enforcing hospitals and day surgeries to satisfy AMS requirements, seek counsel from them. Making a difference could be as simple as organism resistant curtains or hand hygiene.   

3.       Track any AMS initiatives in use

• Tracking what you’re doing will help you determine how successful you really are.  
• Keep an eye on technologies in the space, they could make a huge difference to your AMS practices (eASY System).   

Follow these 3 easy steps and you’re sure to make AMS a success in your residential aged care facility!

Akolade is running our Targeting and Evaluating AMS Success Forum in Melbourne, 28^th – 30^th June 2016. For more information please see Akolade’s website and microsite.

Ashley has lived on Manly beachfront her entire life – she worships the sun and chases it year round. Having recently finished her Bachelor of Business in Portugal’s gorgeous capital, Lisbon, she thought that producing conferences at Akolade would be a great new experience.  Ashley loves her new dinner-time conversation, enlightening people on her research topics!

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